A high ranking Drug Enforcement Administration official said the hydrocodone distribution ring was taken down on Thursday.

Agents said the entire operation is centered around the Encore Pharmacy in Kissimmee. A note saying, "Temporarily Closed," was placed on the door.

Investigators said the operation was pulling in $30,000 to $50,000 a month for its leaders.

DEA officials call it a large-scale distribution ring, including two dozen arrests being already made, with a dozen more to go. The ring is believe to have distributed 35,000 pills throughout the areas where those arrests were made.

How it worked was members were recruited in Puerto Rico, given Florida driver's licenses and flown to Fort Lauderdale to report fake symptoms. They were then given prescriptions that were filled at the Kissimmee pharmacy.

The drugs were then sold on the streets with the money eventually withdrawn from banks in Palm Bay by leaders of the organizations.

"We've had a significant and positive impact on central Florida region today for all the people that live and work here including all of us," said DEA spokesman Jeffrey Walsh. "This is a good day."

Authorities would not sy if the doctors who wrote the prescriptions would face any charges.

THE NEXT COUPLE HOURS RENEWED DEVELOPMENT IN DOWNTOWN. A PRESCRIPTION DRUG RING THAT REACHED FROM MASSACHUSETTS TO PUERTO RICO AND WAS CENTERED IN CENTRAL FLORIDA HAS BEEN SMASHED BY FEDERAL AGENTS. DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENTS SAY THE ENTIRE OPERATION IS CENTERED AROUND A PHARMACY IN KISSIMMEE. WE FOUND A NOTE ON THE DOOR OF THE ENCORE PHARMACY SAYING IT IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED BUT AUTHORITIES STATED RINGLEADERS OPERATING IN PALM BAY USED THE PHARMACY TO PULL DOWN BIG MONEY. WESH 2'S DAN BILLOW IS THERE. HOW MUCH WAS THE DRUG RING WORTH? AGENTS SAY RINGLEADERS WERE PULLING IN 30 TO $50,000 A MONTH FROM THESE ILLEGAL DRUG SALES. AGENTS SAY THEY HAD HELP OF A PHARMACIST IN THAT STORE IN KISSIMMEE. OUR AGENTS WORKED THE CASE, UNCOVERED WHAT APPEARED TO BE A SUBSTANTIAL NETWORK ON A LARGE SCALE THAT ENDED FROM PUERTO RICO ALL THE WAY TO MASSACHUSETTS RUNNING THROUGH THE CITY OF PALM BAY. AGENTS DISPLAYED PILL BOTTLES, GUNS AND AMMO, MONEY AND MAPS TO SHOW THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF THE ELABORATE OPERATION THAT WAS PUTTING DANGEROUS ADDICTIVE OXYCODONE ON THE STREETS AND MONEY IN THE POCKETS OF PALM BAY RINGLEADERS. THIS ORGANIZATION WE CAN CONSERVATIVE SAY RAISED ILLEGALLY $1.2 MILLION. IN PUERTO RICO AGENTS SAY ORGANIZERS RECRUITED PEOPLE TO FLY TO FLORIDA. THERE THEY WENT TO A PAIN CLINIC AND GOT PRESCRIPTIONS FOR OXYCODONE. THE PRESCRIPTIONS WERE FILLED AT ENCORE PHARMACY IN KISSIMMEE MAKING IT THE SOURCE OF 35,000 DANGEROUS ILLEGAL PILLS NOW ON THE BLACK MARKET. AGENTS WERE IN THE MIDST OF A RAID TODAY. THEY BELIEVE A PHARMACIST WAS IN ON THE WHOLE SCHEME. WE'VE HAD A SIGNIFICANT AND POSITIVE IMPACT ON CENTRAL FLORIDA REGION TODAY. THE PILLS WERE MAILED TO MASSACHUSETTS TO BE SOLD. MONEY WAS DEPOSITED THERE AND THEN WITHDRAWN FROM BANKS IN PALM BAY FULLY LAUNDERED. THE GOAL FOR THIS INVESTIGATION WAS TO TAKE THE ORGANIZATION FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP AND MAKE SURE THEY WILL NOT BE ONE OF THE ONES THAT WILL CONTINUE TO DRUGS IN PALM BAY. AGENTS NAMED EDWIN MORALES AND RAPHAEL RAMIREZ OF PALM BAY AS THE RINGLEADERS. THEY FACE FEDERAL CHARGES AND THE MAXIMUM OF 20 YEARS IN